Publication

Jean-Paul Sartre is a philosopher who was best known for his philosophical reflection, literary creativity, and his belief in existentialism. Some of his famous publications are Being and Nothingness (1943), Existentialism is a Humanism (1946), and No Exit (1948). He wrote both novels and playwrights and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

Jean-Paul Sartre's Publications

Biography

Jean-Paul Sartre was born in Paris on 1905. In 1931, he became the Professor of Philosophy at Le Havre. He was an independent writer who focused on existentialism. He died on April 15, 1980 in Paris.

Jean-Paul Sartre- Biography

Stanford's Biography on Jean-Paul Sartre

"Jean-Paul Sartre's 1944 play No Exit has occasionally been performed under the title In Camera, a literal translation of the original French title, Huis Clos. Now, Vancouver's Electric Company Theatre and The Virtual Stage have taken that definition one step further in their exceptional, multi-media production, being presented at American Conservatory Theatre."

Robert Sokol
Theatermania

"Being a person of agile mind, Jean-Paul Sartre has written a fascinating and macabre play about three lost souls in hell."

Brooks Atkinson
The New York Times

Bad Faith

Garcin does not believe in himself when it comes to deciding whether he is a coward or not. He relies on Estelle to tell him and rambles on of how he is unsure of himself and how he left his fate to be decided by his friends back on earth. In this situation, he surrenders his free will to other people and wants them to decide his faith just like Estelle. This is where Garcin stops believing in himself and is unable to leave when the door opens. He cannot imagine existing on his own without other people defining his existence for him.

Estelle and Inez's Existence

Estelle does not think she exists without looking at herself in the mirror. We can infer, that in the past, Estelle looked in the mirror a lot, but now that she is in a room with two other people and nothing to see herself with, she does not trust her own judgement. She relies on Inez to be her mirror, but Inez merely takes advantage of this opportunity telling that she has a pimple when she actually does not. Inez, however, is the complete opposite and is always conscious of herself even without a mirror. She has always been aware of her existence and will not let anyone steal that.

Torture at the Hands of Others...

Garcin, Inez, and Estelle all wait in the room and talk about what they were doing before they died and how they died. At first Estelle and Garcin just talk about how they did not sin to end up in hell, but Inez screams at them saying that they are all damned souls that deserve to be there. Inez then realizes that no one is going to torture them for all of eternity. They will simply torture each other by simply being together. Garcin does not believe this and quits talking to them and Inez helps with Estelle's makeup, but eventually they all begin to bicker with each other proving Inez's theory correct. They will all be in that room and torture each other for eternity.